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Topic: Britain's Big Brother was taken off the air (Read 2281 times)

BLOODY HELL: Britain's Big Brother was taken off the air Thursday after ariot broke out in the flat. The housemates reportedly threatened to killeach other and had to be dragged apart by security guards. This would havenever happened on Julie Chen's watch. ?

You really don't see anything happen because they showed a lot of the backyard! And they scream a lot, but when those Brits get excited, you cannot understand them AT ALL with thier accent! You hear a lot of the word "Faoucking". That is how it sounds! LOL, it was CRAZY

Several early morning viewers of the reality TV show phoned the police this week when insults, threats and the odd kitchen implement started flying in a boozy brawl that left the set a shambles.

Hertfordshire police reviewed tapes of the incident with an eye for criminal charges and a university criminologist severed his ties with the show Friday as behavioural experts blamed the production company's pursuit of ratings for the fracas.

She launched a serving tray at him Faced with flagging popularity for a tired format, producer Edemol came up with the slogan "Big Brother Gets Evil" for this fifth series. The house was made smaller to encourage discomfort and the 12 contestants chosen had little in common, including a political activist, an aspiring topless model, a former asylum seeker from Somalia and transsexual.

The volatile combination of different personalities and dirty tricks proved explosive and security guards were sent into the house early Thursday morning for the first time in the history of the show to break up the fighting.

Channel 4, which broadcasts the show, cut the live TV feed but several horrified viewers saw enough to contact police. OFCOM, the government's media watchdog, is also investigating after receiving complaints from viewers.

Behavior experts said the brawling was an inevitable - and possibly planned - result of a fake eviction last week.

The contestants left in the house believed that legal administrator Emma Greenwood, 20, and aspiring model Michelle Bass, 23, had been thrown out after a public vote.

It paid off in ratings They were in fact placed in a studio apartment on the same site and allowed to observe the others for a week, hearing several negative comments about themselves.

The pair were also encouraged to play tricks on the other contestants. They took revenge on their greatest critics by giving one a series of cold showers, placing eggs in the bed of another and cooking a chili chocolate cake for a third.

They were returned to the house late on Wednesday evening, triggering a confrontation.

Greenwood hurled insults at student Victor Ebuwa, 23, whom she had seen accusing her of being stupid, boring and racist. She launched a serving tray at him and he retaliated by pouring a glass of wine over her and shouting threats.

Bodybuilder Jason Cowen, 30, screamed at 21-year-old student Marco Sabba who had instigated a food fight with Greenwood: "I'll knock you out! I'll take your head off, end of story."

Greenwood was isolated on the set in solitary confinement on Friday.

"Putting a group of strangers together in a tiny house is bad enough," said Professor Cary Cooper, professor of psychology at Lancaster University. "Take some of them into isolation and show them what people say about them when they're not there, and things are likely to explode."

But it paid off in ratings. Seven million viewers tuned in to watch the fracas on a highlights show Thursday evening, representing a huge surge in ratings after a big drop-off following similar figures for the launch show on May 28. The show's website slowed to a crawl on Friday as it tried to cope with thousands of hits.

The incident prompted Professor David Wilson, a criminologist at the University of Central England in Birmingham who was a consultant with the show to withdraw. Wilson said it was now "inappropriate" for him to be associated the programme.

Cooper warned that the producers were playing a dangerous game.

"They have to be quite careful because someone could get hurt," he said. - Sapa-AP

A fragile peace seems to have been restored to Britain's Big Brother, following the shocking brawl which tore the house apart.

Police are investigating events in the TV house after security guards were called in to quell the fighting in the early hours of Thursday.

Several of the warring housemates face possible criminal charges over the violence, and Channel 4 cut the live TV feed from 2-3am as the situation spiralled out of control.

During the most violent scenes, arch enemies Emma and Victor had to be dragged apart by other housemates.

Emma - bubbling with rage after overhearing Victor brand her racist and stupid while she was locked away in the bedsit - threw a tray at him as their row exploded.

Victor responded by throwing a glass of white wine over her.

Police said they were viewing tapes of the fracas and deciding whether or not to press charges.

"Following a number of calls from members of the public regarding an alleged incident in the Big Brother house last night, Hertfordshire Constabulary can confirm it will be obtaining a videotape of the incident later today," the police spokeswoman said.

"Officers are currently liaising with members of the Big Brother production team to see what further action needs to be taken."

Now in its fifth British series, Big Brother is facing declining public interest and low ratings, which production staff have endeavoured to combat though a series of stunts.

Over the past week, two female contestants whom the others thought had been ejected from the house were placed in an adjoining so-called "bedsit", from which they could secretly watch their fellows make disparaging comments about them.

This evening the duo were returned to the main house to face the others - with turbulent consequences.

The live television feed was cut for an hour as security guards had to be called in after one contestant threatened to tear another's head off and another duo almost came to blows.